Method of coating iron and steel surfaces



7 "Patented Nov. 22, 1938 N'T n s-mss W t H 2.137.370 p l mnrnooor COATING moNLANn STEEL has for its object a method of rtreatmentl OfqlIOllfiIldSlZEGl structures to provide same with a protective coating capable of resisting the corrodin g effects of liquids and gases and H1 which is also particularly well suited to serve as an unde'rc'oating for paints, varnishes, lacquers land the" like. 1 This inventiori a continuation in part 'of my prionapplication Ser.No."l.9;117filed on April 30, 1031935 .for a Method-oftroikiding iron'and steel H-structureswith a protective coating. i

"ccordingto the invention the results aimed at are*attained byapplying to the surfaceskinquestion an aqueous paste comprising a compound of a metal which is above iron'in' the electroniotive series of the metals together with. a compound capable of forming complex compounds withiron.

= When-acomposition of this character is main tained in contact-with the iron surface for some I time, iron ions will enter into solution and'form acomplex iron compoundyfwhilethe metal above ,ironinthe electroniotiveseries. will be deposited 1cementation "1 on the. iron surface in a metallic condition (by The. metal above ir on the electromotive series which is a necessary constituent of the compositionmay be i for example zinc,,chromiunnmagnevsiu n many other metal below magnesium in the electrom otive series. This metal maybe present 3p infhe composition as a salt or as an oxideonas The compound capable of formingmomples oompounds with iron may f or example be a phosphate such as monocalciurn phosphate o1 altar- Q Qtrate such; as sodium or potassiumf tartrate) jor an acetate (suchas sodium or potassiurn acetate) ...or. the l kes,Infia dditiontothe saidsubstances 1 the composition preferably also. ontainstan alkali m talsalt th o e t ol e make the composition readily applicable by. brush ing .,sprayingxorrlike;methods. the composition will usually be given an addition of some filler such as kieselguhr, clay, starch or the like.

49 vI-n order to produce asuit ble con sisteincy to In order toproduce a protective coating on the iron or. steel surface in question, a coating of a composition of the above specified nature is applied to the surface and then left to solidify,

whereupon a suitable paint, lacquer, varnish, oil

.50 or the like is applied on top of the first coating. The resulting compound coating adheres very strongly to the surface and protects the surfaces for a very long time. i w

The method is of particular advantage in con- 55 nection with ships and constructional equipment tricalcium phosphate.

calcium phosphate reactswith iron and rust to 5 of ships,iship tanks-and other large containers on board ships or on the land, c'omprising also steam xboilers, pipe lines andthe like; but the useof the.method is of advantage also in connection withother iron and steelstructures, such: as build- 5 ings, bridges, masts; pillars; postsand the like.

The paint, lacquer or the like applied as the second coating on top or the solidified layer of. aqueous composition may be an ordinary paint o ng fillers or pigments of i any suitable na- 10 tureg such as'for example chaikgzinc white, lithophone etc." *It has been- 'foundf however, that titanium tconipounds', such as titaniumdioxide are particularly suitable as a filler"or pigment-inthe second coating composition. I 15 The-ordinary commercial titanium paints (containing titanium" oxide with orwithout other pig ments or fillers such as zincx'white; lithophone,

chalk etc.) have provedto give e -icellent results in cornbin tior the above specifled ground- 20 ing compositio ias ruaua with aismsc treat: 450

.. t rs 15 u The coatingsolidiflcd inithe course lo mzfi hours. Qn top of theso obtained coating," 9. layer. of an .35

oil paint containing titanium pigment was applied. The structure was maintained in contact i s a w or m e: an 3 m nthso formation 5 of rust could ;.be detected as a result of this. The effect or the treatment may be 40 .explained as follows; a i i The zinc oxide and a. part] of; themono-calcium phosphate react to form a zinc phosphate and The excess of mono- 7 form insoluble iron phosphate. At thesame time metallic zinc is deposited on the iron. A saturated solution of zinc phosphate is in fact present together with a compound capableof forming a complex salt; This compound combineswith the iron (equivalent to the deposited zinc) which will enter intosolution. The coating of paste further acts as a constant store for further reaction as above in proportion as a part of the coating is dissolved in water, and Iorms" a comparatively taining zinc chloride, mono-calcium I and I The paste consisted of Parts by weight Zinc chloride 25 Calcium monophosphate (CaLHdPOOa) 60 Kleaelguhr 30 Water 20 The pastewas prepared by the aid'of sea water as saturated solution reacting as above explained. There is thus constantly a direction of flow which brings about deposition of metallic zinc.

Sample I! iron surface was coated with a paste conphosphate a vehicle. The coating was left to dry and was I then coated with a layer of an oil paint. v

by a iayer of an oil paint.

Emmple II! An 1m tank. which after emptying has been brushed to remove loose, rust, i! brushed over ;(one time or several times). with a, paste, produced by stirring 10 parts by weight .of zinc chloride and 20 parts by weight of potassium tartrate in about 170 parts by weight of water.

When dry the resulting coatingwas covered l. i v

[A numberof-iron pistes was brushed over with pastesofthe above type. some containing sine phosphate'andothers containing nine 1 oxide. but. having asa constituent of m nocalcium' h pha a o oth r Ph sp s "such as phosphates of aluminium-titanium,

munsl m. s t barium. {ti mm found to have thesame set forth in the aboveexamples.

pastesabove mentioned were also emcoat u-on surfaces of large dimension,

which had previously been freed from loosely adherlng rust. After thepaste coating had solidifled the surfaces were treated as usual with one or two coats of paint. Itwas found that onthis almost theipaint produced a very keepingcoat- "the course ofthe various experiments it has acto we titute been found that the paste functions as a satisfor the'oonventional base coat H a sample v I a A. large-newiron plate with roller scales was cut into comparatively 0 large pieces. Two of the pieces were painted with one coat of ordinary red lead. when this coast was dryftwo coats of ordinary painters oil with titanium white (Stand- A) were applied. "One of theisamples' was immersed with one hall'- in sea water". The other wasplaeedin open air in an oblique posi- Two other pieces oi the plate were'coated with a paste of partao'f chloride,

- 'A' ship's nun Example VI A large iron plate in a thoroughly rusty condition was freed from loosely adhering rust by beating and then cut into pieces and treated exactly as in Example V. After about four months the samples were inspected. The results were exactly as in Example V with the only difference that the red lead sample in sea water was found to be in a still more'damaged :condition than according to Example V. I

Esa'mple VH An iron plate (scrap iron) having large rust cavities was freed from loosely adhering rust, while the main partvof the rust was-left on the plate. a The plate was cut into. pieces, and the pieces treated as in Example V. After four months the samples were inspected. The red lead sample in open air showed a beginning deterioration, in that the rust spots had pene- ,trated through the paint. The other open air sample was inan entirely sound condition; The red lead sample in sea waterwas highly damaged, largeblisters having been formed on the surface. The other sample, treated with the aqueous paste and placed in, sea water showed no signs of deterioration. I v

1 'Emmfle-V!" a was coated; with a paste of the same composition as in Example V. After some days the surface below the water line was coated with an ordinary bottom paint. Above the water line a grey'oll paint was applied. Part of the work was doneat temperatures of about 8 0. below zero, while the rest of the work was done at temperatures above zero in moist air. After eight months," the surface 'was in an entirely sound condition with no signs of rust.

I claim:

Method of protecting iron and steel structures against corrosion whichcomprises preparing an aqueous zinc depositing paste by incorporating zinc oxide and monocalcium phosphate into an aqueous liquid, applying a coating of the someparedaqueous paste to the iron surface to be protected, and leavingthe so applied coating on the iron surface in a moist condition at ordinary an temperature until-the coating has solidified. THEODOR BBOCH'UNGER. 

